A Study in Legends
by TheShock
Summary: One foggy evening, Sherlock Holmes had no cases to bide his time with. A strange newspaper article makes him inquire in a case that hasn't been solved for years... (Rated T just to be safe. Cover is a mashup with an art of twokinds for Undertale.)
1. The Beginning of a Tale

**Don't even ask what got into me.**  
 **This is my first attempt at a crossover, and I decided to bring out Sherlock Holmes in the universe of Undertale!  
**

 **For the record, I found it impossible to place Ebott City's existence in America (well not saying Holmes couldn't have sailed there, but I wanted to keep some canonicity with Conan Doyle's novels), so I had to move it to Scotland.**

 **Mt. Ebott is the fictional creation of Toby Fox, as is Undertale.**  
 **Sherlock Holmes belongs to A.C. Doyle.**  
 **I do not own the characters of either stories, but I own this story.**

 **Also, I'm trying to keep Conan Doyle's style of storytelling if possible.**  
 **Enjoy.**

* * *

_It was a foggy evening of September when this strange adventure started. Holmes was focused in a chemical analysis to help pass some time and keep his mind tinkering, and I was sitting in my armchair, reading the Times, hoping I would find something note-worthy to share with him. "Hear this, dear fellow. A young lady is searching for her missing dog, Archibald. She's offering a large reward-", only to be interrupted by the stern voice of the great detective, "Watson, enough. I won't be taking such petty cases that do not offer me a challenge. And besides, I am sure that the dog will return to the young lady in two-three days. You'll see that announcement gone in Thursday's Times. Now, do not interrupt me further." the slender detective said as he returned to his experiment table, his eyes focused on the chemicals. After such a refuse from my friend, I strived to search for something that would really pick his interest, and make him abandon for a long while his chemical experiments - they had gone to such an extent Miss Hudson had to convince Holmes to reduce his experimental missions - but Holmes insisted that these are helping him focus, otherwise he would be resorting to injecting cocaine into his system just to pass the time, and Miss Hudson, seeing she was defeated in her attempt, let him be with his chemicals. It wasn't long until I noticed a rather odd article about a mountain where children disappeared. "Holmes, I think this one would surely interest you. Please, just give it a moment's rest from that experiment." I said, as he reluctantly placed back two substances in their place, and sat himself across me, in his armchair. He picked up his pipe and lit a bit of his tobbaco, while examining me with curiosity, and told me, in his usual tone,"Very well, Watson. I am listening."_

 _"Strange Disappearances on Mount Ebott", I began reading the article, "residents of Ebott City, in Scotland, are shocked as six children, aged 8 to 11 years old, have gone missing since August 22nd, 1899. Locals claim that each year, a children went missing. The local police, each time a disappearance occured, have tried everything in their power to find the missing children, as they searched all around the woods and in every possible cave that they knew around. Some of them had families, and some others were residents in the local orphanage. It is said that Scotland Yard was called in to solve this case. Will the children's fate be known?" As I finished reading the article, I could see a spark igniting in my friend's eyes, as he puffed from his pipe, "Ah, Watson. It means we'll have the visit of Lestrade tomorrow," Holmes said with a chuckle. "This case looks interesting, and I have no doubt it will offer us a challenge," to which I nodded curtly. "I will look for a train for Thursday, towards Ebott City."_

 _The next day, sun began to shine outside, and I asked Holmes to leave out some air in here, to which he waved casually, "It is not the state of our air that concerns me, Watson. I'm more interested in what news will Lestrade bring, as I asked Wiggins to fetch him for me." my friend said, in a rather monotone voice as he was dressed in a white shirt, grey pants, and black shoes, as he puffed from the pipe some more. "I will ask Ms. Hudson to bring us some breakfast, Holmes. Would a cup of tea and some well done eggs suffice for you?" I asked curtly, to which Holmes only nodded while he kept puffing his pipe._ _It was somewhere around afternoon when the all-familiar detective from Scotland Yard entered our apartment, accompanied by Wiggins. "Here you go, fellow," I said as I tossed him a sovereign. Lestrade looked like he didn't had a good rest in days, and he sat down as Holmes gestured so._

\- So, Lestrade, what news do you bring? _Holmes asked, with a smile on his lips.  
_ \- Mr. Holmes, I gather that by now you must've made some ideas from what is written in the papers, _Lestrade said as he pointed towards the Times I left out on my armchair.  
_ \- A few, my dear Lestrade. I am hoping you can bring some more facts I can work with, _Holmes said.  
\- _Well, much of what's in the papers is what we know as well, but one of the boys down at the Yard lived there for a few years. He said people blame the children's disappearance on an old legend, _Lestrade said.  
_ \- Holmes, I hope this isn't another legend like that of the Baskervilles, _I mused as I looked towards my friend.  
_ \- We shall pay a visit to this officer, Lestrade, _Holmes said as he rose up to lead the detective out._ What's his name?  
\- His name is Jacob Silver, _Lestrade answered as he pulled out his notebook._ He lives down Waterbury Street, at number eight. Thank you for your help, Mr. Holmes. I hope we'll solve this case soon.  
\- See you later, Lestrade, _my friend said as he closed the door._

 _This whole affair, to me at least, felt like reliving the adventures of the 'Hound of the Baskervilles', where Holmes dealt for the first time with shady legends surrounding a place, a legend that didn't prove to be true in the end, all being just a huge hoax Holmes managed to stop in time before it hurt more people. I could see the expression on my friend's face changing from exultation to a deep frown, as he wasn't prepaired to tinker with so few data. He always used to tell me "it is wrong to emit a theory with no data," and this time I could see he didn't steer away from that principle. He kept the pipe in his mouth and headed towards the violin, which sat abandoned in a corner of the room, and began playing a tune I never heard before. It was a tune that reminded of strengths, of weaknesses, of old fables long gone, and it was the first time I genuinely listened with interest as he harmonized the notes over the violin's strings. I must've drifted off to sleep rather quick, for he gently awoke me with his hand placed on my left shoulder "Watson. Come, we must visit that officer's home," and I could note, albeit with sleepy eyes, that he was wearing his deerstalker cap and a cape above his attire. Slowly, but steadily, I searched for my revolver, which I placed in my right pocket and then, took my hat hanging on the rack and dusted my suit. As we got outside in London's chilly air, Holmes hailed for a cab. "We cannot wait for too long, or some other child will disappear on that mountain," he said sternly. "Waterbury Street, number eight," I told the driver as we sat down comfortably in the cabin. Holmes sat silent as he looked out on the window, and I was just as silent, because I couldn't really make any theory for him to dismiss, but the cab came to a stop thirty minutes later. "Waterbury Street, sir," the driver told us, and Holmes handed him a guinea for the trip._

 _After thanking us with a curt not, the driver and its' cab left and we were sitting in front of a small house with one light coming from a window, and the street was barely illuminated by a lamp post. "Let's go, Watson.", Holmes told me after a few moments of examining the apparel of this house. He knocked on the door, and behind, some ruffling could be heard. "Good evening, gentlemen," a young lady, in her twenties, opened the door. Holmes noted she had a few scars and bruises on her arms, bags under her eyes, her dress was torn in a few places and one of her feet was a bit twisted._

\- Good evening, Miss Silver, Holmes said as he tipped his deerstalker hat. We are looking for your husband, Mr. Jacob Silver.  
\- Jacob! Two men want to see you, come here! _Miss Silver said._

 _In the hallway, I could note the presence of a rather robust man, perhaps in his thirties, that wore a blue dressing gown, and who recently shaved, as I smelt the scent of cologne. He went to greet us, as he gently pushed his wife. "What can I do for you, gentlemen?"_

\- I am Sherlock Holmes, and this is my colleague, dr. Watson, _Holmes said as he introduced us._  
\- Mr. Holmes? _the man's face went pale with emotion seeing the greatest detective at his humble house's door._ I am terribly sorry for my lack of words and for the way me and my wife have greeted you, _Jacob Silver said._ How can I help you, sir? _the man asked as he gestured towards us to enter the house._

 _Inside the house, a rather dim light illuminated the hallway, and Jacob Silver led us in the living room, which was modestly decorated. An old grandfather clock stood opposite of us, and I could see it was nine o'clock in the evening. A medium sized table was in the center of the room, with three chairs, and Jacob Silver motioned towards us "Have a seat. Should I ask my wife to bring you some tea?" but Holmes politely refused._

\- We're here for the Mount Ebott case, Mr. Silver, _my friend said.  
\- _Mount Ebott? I lived in Ebott City for some while until I met Julia, my wife. I heard there was a legend involving this mountain, but I never believed that, _Jacob said as he sipped from a cold cup of tea.  
-_ Could you please tell us the legend? _I inquired._

The man made a brief pause before he recounted the legend of Mount Ebott. "Legend has it, that the mountain is cursed. Whoever wanders around the forest or on the mountain itself is said to disappear. I never believed that legend to be real, until I saw the papers this morning. Six children, to disappear in six years, and nobody made an inquiry in their disappearance, until now. Their parents have searched them ever since, and for those who didn't have a family...nobody really cared about them. The police deemed the case closed after the sixth child's disappearance. And we're now in the year of glory 1906. How is it possible that nobody ever bothered all these years? But what do I know...I was younger back then and tried to make my way through life."

-That is an interesting story, _Holmes said as he leant in the chair._ I'm really intrigued, Watson. Thank you, Mr. Silver, _my friend said as he made his way towards the door, and the robust officer invited us out._

 _"Holmes, whatever did you mean by that?" I asked, in complete puzzlement at the rather short talk. "Watson, I'm sorry I have not prolongued the discussion, but I have heard what I needed to hear. Let us return to Baker Street, tomorrow we have a long day ahead." Holmes said as he called a cab and we returned to our apartment. I hoped to understand whatever was expecting us, and after a few tosses and turns while thinking of this case, I managed to drift off to sleep._


	2. A Seventh Child Has Gone Missing

_Sherlock Holmes didn't sleep too much that night, as he was walking from one end to the other of his bedroom, awoken by a strange dream. In his dream, he saw a great mountain profiling in front of his eyes, in the dead dark of the night, the moon barely shining. He could catch a sound of small footsteps just a bit further from him position, as he slowly made his way towards the sound. "Another child?" his mind mused as he could discern a silhouette leaning on a tree, as if catching its' breath for a moment. The detective's eyes glinted with hope, as he followed the silhouette through the darkened forest, hearing some whimpers from it, and some ruffling, as if whoever was there searched for something in their pockets. "Oh, there it was," resounded the silhouette's voice, a child's one, no less, as he lit up a pocket lantern. Its' light wasn't enough to break through the darkness, but it gave Holmes quite a view on the child's face - he was caucasian, no less that four feet tall, and had a glimmer of determination in his eyes. The child walked up on a barren pathway that led to the top of the mountain, and Holmes followed, making sure the child didn't know they were watched from behind. He noted some hesitation in the child's actions, as if they weren't really sure about what they were going to do. He could see the child clenching their fist, as if urging themselves to go through with it.  
As both child and detective reached the top of the mountain, the latter making sure not to be observed, Holmes noticed the child left the lantern next to his feet, and, after a brief pause, they looked at the sky, at the landscape, before throwing themselves to the abyss below. That image alone was enough for the detective to wake up and comprehend what did he just witness, albeit he didn't put too much stock in such foolish things, like dreams. "Watson, however, would certainly do so," the detective mused. "It is indeed important that we solve this case before another child disappears." Holmes went out of his room to drink a glass of water to ease out his mind, and then returned to pacing in his room until six in the morning, when Watson was usually waking up._

I was gently awoken by the sun rays that passed through the window. I opened the small window and let out some morning fresh air, and then went to wash my face in the small basin just across his bed, and after that, I carefully trimmed my growing beard. Holmes was always awake before me, so I decided I would not appear in my dressing gown and pyjamas. I changed into my usual morning attire, a white shirt, a beige vest, a black tie, beige pants and brown leather shoes. I opened the door and I could see Holmes still in his dressing gown, looking like some sort of lunatic from an asylum, as he gazed down on Baker Street from the windows.

-Good morning, Holmes, _I greeted him lightly.  
_  
 _After a brief pause in which the slender detective didn't answer, my state passed from a genuine good mood to one of worry._

\- My dear fellow, is something troubling you? _I continued to ask, and I thought my voice must've betrayed my worries._

 _Holmes, after a small hesitation, decided to relieve me of all my worries, as he knew that I wouldn't stop asking what was happening - and I believe, in some ways, he was grateful that I was voicing out my concerns for him._

-I'm just exerting my mind over a rather curious adventure throughout dreamland, _Holmes said, making the whole dream sound like something completely trivial._

\- You mean, you had a dream? About what was it? _I said, raising an eyebrow in curiosity._

-You know, Watson, that I do not rely on such things to solve my cases. However, I believe my mind has been taking curious leaps of imagination, _Holmes said as he waved his right hand casually._ We have a train to catch for today, and I'm not going to waste our time on such trivialities.

\- Very well, Holmes. I will ask Ms. Hudson to give us the usual breakfast, _I said as I went towards the kitchen, where Ms. Hudson was prepairing breakfast for herself as well.  
_  
 _I was concerned for Holmes' state that whole morning, as just moments later, he changed into his usual grey suit, with black shoes, and he combed his hair in a more civilised manner than before. He sat just opposite of me when Ms. Hudson gladly entered our room with breakfast, and during our meal, I couldn't bring myself to say anything to him, but right then, Wiggins came in with the newspaper of this morning. "Good morning, Mr. Holmes. I brought in the papers, and I kept an ear for you if Mr. Lestrade found anything." Holmes rose his head up at Lestrade's name, making Wiggins tell his story further. "He didn't discover anything much, though. But the papers this morning, seem to know more than the police does," and just as Wiggins said that, my friend rose from the table, handed Wiggins a guinea and gently showed him out the room. "My fears have become real, it seems," Holmes uttered as he glanced towards the paper that said "A SEVENTH CHILD HAS GONE MISSING DOWN MOUNT EBOTT."_

\- Let us hurry to that train, Watson, _he said to me as he picked up his top hat and cane._

 _Minutes later, we were at the train station, hopping in the train towards Ebott City, in Scotland. The usual landscape of London was slowly fading away from our view, leaving in front of us blooming fields, trees, and a few houses rising in the distance. I gazed at the marvels of nature as they were enveloping in front of us, while Holmes was reading a book he borrowed from Barnes, on ancient German folklore. I raised my eyebrows at this odd choice of Holmes', but I knew by now that my friend had a habit of studying various things that picked up his interest and thought they could help further in his profession. He was also writing various monographies on footprints, tobacco scents and whatever things that would help out fellow detectives in their investigations, and after a minute's gaze on that book, I decided to dismiss my thoughts and leave my mind travel along with the landscapes unveiling themselves before me. Some fifteen minutes later, I was brought back from my reverie by the usual tone of my friend's voice, "I'm glad you haven't said a word about the book I'm reading, Watson. You used to complain that I read awful books with no value for me." and I gently said "Well, maybe I don't find it relevant to our case, but if it helps you, I won't say a word," to which he could leave out a soft chuckle. "Watson, your honesty is much appreciated. You have always thought I would delve myself in studies about a case, and each time I proved you I don't rely on that modus operandi."_

 _About two hours later from that small discussion, the conductor announced "Ebott City, we're in Ebott City!" and we went off the train. At the station, a young constable was waiting for us, in the regular uniform of the British force. He didn't look like he had an easy night, and he greeted us in the familiar Scottish accent, "I was told two detectives will arrive this afternoon from London. Are you from Scotland Yard?" he inquired, seeing our attires, to which my friend searched for a visit card. "No, my dear fellow. I am Sherlock Holmes, and this is my friend, Dr. Watson."_

\- Pleased to meet you, Mr. Holmes! _the constable said as he picked up a military salute position._ I am Bert, Bert O'Shea, constable serving the force in Ebott City.  
\- Very well, Mr O'Shea. Could you lead us to your superintendent? We would like to have a word with him, _Holmes said.  
_ \- My pleasure, sir. I have a cab waiting right here, _constable Bert said as he pointed to the police cab._

 _Ebott City was really a small city, with around 30,000 inhabitants, and it was full of well kept houses. People were walking down the streets, and it seemed like the usual country city where people know one another, but Holmes was more interested in the case now. "I have heard that a seventh child went missing this morning," to which the constable replied "Yes, sir, I know, I was one of the constables assigned with searching around the area. But I believe the superintendent has all the information that you might need," and that rendered Holmes back into his usual silence, while I was waiting patiently for the cab to stop at the police station. The police station seemed to be far from the train station, because the cab stopped after approximately fourty-five minutes. "Here we are, sirs. Come in, I will go to the superintendent and let him know you are here," constable Bert said to us as we waited in the police station's hall._

\- Mr. Wallace, this is Mr. Holmes and his associate, Dr. Watson, _the constable said to a man in his fourties, seemingly the superintendent of this area. He had a red moustache and his face was also showing signs of tiring, it made me wonder to what extent have these men gone in their searches.  
_ \- Mr. Holmes, we are indeed surprised by your presence, _the man said._ I am Daniel Wallace, the superintendent of this area. _  
-_ You are a married man, aged 43, with two children. You have a rather good material situation, which allows you to provide for a third child your wife is expecting, _Holmes said, as he was examining the man with his accurate senses.  
\- _Good heavens! How did you know, Mr. Holmes? _Mr. Wallace was shocked, looking at my friend.  
_ \- I could see by the state of your clothes - they are neatly kept and have little to no tears on them - meaning you must have enough money to provide for yourself and the family. At your neck is a medallion, no doubt with photographs of your wife holding your daughter, and the other photograph with your son. As for your wife's carriage, I have noted you have a date inscribed on the outside of the medallion, that could only mean the day the third child is expected to arrive, _Holmes said._  
\- Yes, it is correct, Mr. Holmes. Why, I haven't really told anyone what the date means. But you certainly must be a wizard of some kind, because my wife suggested that I carve it on the front. But I know you're not here to discuss my family's matters. You must be here because you have heard about the case we're working on here, _the superintendent said, a bit frowning.  
\- _Can we have a look at the information you have collected thus far? _my friend asked._

 _As the superintendent led us in his office, I noticed a lot of papers stacked on the desk, various certifications, it resembled pretty much Lestrade's office, from what Holmes told me once. The robust man motioned towards us to have a seat, while he searched for the files for this case - which he found after a rather embarassing ten minutes' search. "Here we are, gentlemen. This is the entire casefile for the disappearances. As you can obviously see, they were aged between eight and eleven years old. Three of them had families, and the later three were residents of the local orphanage."_

\- What about the last child that's gone missing today? _I asked.  
_ \- Oh. This one is a rather special case, _superintendent Wallace said, clearing his throat a bit._ The child's name was an odd one, as we noted in the records. Frederick Sheila Thorne. The child was a resident in the local orphanage as well. _  
_\- I assume the child had a family at some point, _I said, puzzlement visible on my face.  
_ \- Yes, the child had a family. But they have abandoned the infant when it was four years old. _  
_\- Good God, who'd do such a thing to a child, _I said.  
_ \- They are no different than the criminals we hunt, Watson, _Holmes said, a small frown forming on his face._

 _After the visit to the police station, Holmes and I were visibly concerned with this case. "Watson, tomorrow, we'll go on that mountain. There's no time to lose, man, the clock is ticking. And it's not in the favor of that child." Holmes was indeed right, for the child was laying on the inside of Mount Ebott, unconscious._


	3. Unter dem Berg (Under the Mountain)

**A/N: For the record, I made the SOULS of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson similar to two of the six children.  
Since Sherlock Holmes is the representative of Justice, his SOUL colour would be Orange, and Dr. Watson is the embodiement of Kindness, so his SOUL colour would be green. Frisk's SOUL is canon, embodiement of Determination.  
**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

 _"Und der_ _König and die_ _Königin wartet...unter dem Berg._ _"_

 _The next morning, after a good night's rest at Ebott City's inn, "The Three Crowns", Holmes and I began our ascent on what the locals called 'the cursed mountain.' We brought with ourselves some rope, two flashlights, my revolver and his stick cane. My friend advanced expertly on the rather dangerous path through the woods, for he was on the hunt, while I was careful to follow in his footsteps, keeping my revolver at ready, because we didn't know what expected us on this mountain. He seemed to look for some traces, when I could hear a gasp of surprise from my friend. I headed towards his position, only to see him crouching before before a rocky formation, examining it with his magnifying glass. "Regard, Watson. What do you make of this?" but I wasn't sure what to answer, when I saw a pair of small footsteps forming in the soil, before the rocky formation. "Small footsteps, perhaps belonging to the child we're looking for?" to which he smiled graciously. "Indeed, Watson. From here, you can see the child halted to a stop, as they're quite visible. After a moment of rest, if you can see, the child walked through the dirt. Let us follow these steps, and see where they lead." he told me as he rose to his feet and followed the trail. I tried to keep up with him, and it was obvious the child began running for something, or of something, because my friend told me at a point "he was afraid of something, Watson. See how the path is consistent with the small footsteps apart, as if running?"  
_  
 _We ran for about five to ten minutes straight, until we saw a rocky pathway leading to the top of the mountain. The boulders were rather large, as if able to provide cover from something, but not someone. "Yes Watson, the boulders are perfect to provide shooting cover, if that would happen. But our child wasn't afraid of being shot, as I see no signs that anyone hid behind. No, the child went atop of the mountain, where we're headed." I believe he must've read my mind at that point, but being reassured by his explanation, we continued our ascent on the rocky pathway. We had to ascend slowly, with some halts from two hundred to two hundred feet, as Holmes explained the air would be rarer at five thousand feet. It was almost dawn when we reached a plateau, meaning we were on top of the mountain. I was about to make a careless step, when Holmes held me in place, "Careful, Watson. Below us is an abyss, and I don't know how deep it is. Let me throw a small stone before we tie the rope for descent." By the sound, he could say that the abyss was almost at three hundred feet. "That's strange, Holmes," I remarked. "Indeed it is, Watson. And the child who fell down here is unconscious. Let us tie the rope and descend." The rope was sturdy, and I was the first one to descend, because, in my quality as a doctor, I could tend to the injured child. I must admit, it was a rather fearsome descent, because small rocks were falling from places I dug my feet in, and Holmes kept encouraging me until I saw a bed of flowers and a small child in a blue blouse with blue pants, brown hair, laying face-down on the flowers. The rope was shorter by six feet, so I had to drop down on the bed of flowers, careful not to hurt the unconscious child. "Alright, Holmes, I'm down here! You can descend, at the end you'll see some flowers! I will tend to the child I found down here!" I yelled to my friend as I formed a cone with my hands._

\- Child, are you alright? _I asked as I turned the child face-up and began resuscitating measures._

 _In the meantime, Holmes was descending, as I would watch his silhouette profiling against the walls of the mountain, aided by the light that came from above. I kept doing resuscitating measures, and I could hear some faint breathing from the child. I then pulled out a small bottle of mineral salt, and the child responded to the stimuli of the scent, thus opening their eyes. Holmes was down and he came along to see how the child was doing as well, and he smiled gently seeing the young one was alive and well. The child, with some hesitation, looked at us curiously and didn't really know what to say towards us, but my friend placed his hand on the child's shoulder and spoke a bit softly, so he didn't startle the young one:  
_

 _\- Hello, young one. My name is Sherlock Holmes, and the man next to me is Dr. Watson. Do not be afraid, we do not mean you any harm._

 _The child began speaking in a small, small voice, as if the young one hated speaking altogether, "my...my name...is Fri...Frisk." I smiled gently towards him and I said, "It is a nice name, Frisk. Care to tell me, what are you, a boy or a girl?" The child's face turned ashen, as if resenting this kind of question. "I'm sorry, Frisk," I excused myself in embarassment. "I am a doctor, do not be afraid of me. I had to ask this particular question because of your registered name." Frisk seemed to understand the puzzlement on my face, and then I tried to figure out something to please the child. "I presume you would prefer a 'they' pronoun, is it not?" and at my question the child nodded strongly. "Very well, Frisk." I smiled in embarassment, but the child hugged me as a sign of thanks, almost wanting me to not be ashamed by my natural curiosity._

\- Watson, it seems you have made a new friend, _Holmes said smiling towards me.  
_  
\- Yes, Holmes, the child really seems to have taken to me, _I said smiling as well._

 _Frisk then proceeded to hug Holmes. While my friend wasn't a fan of expressing his emotions, he didn't stiffen at the child's gentle hug, and he returned the gesture. "Th...thank...you...Mr. Holmes.", the child said towards my friend, and I couldn't help retorting his line from earlier, "Holmes, it seems you have made a new friend," to which he left out a hearty laughter like I rarely heard of him. "Indeed, Watson. Indeed."_

 _We looked around ourselves and Holmes noticed the sun was gone from above us. "Watson, your lantern. Keep young Frisk close." my friend said as he lit his lantern and looked at what laid in front of his eyes. "Do you feel that, Watson? The wind seems to be whistling before us." Me and Frisk kept close to the slender detective, while he was figuring out where the breeze was coming from. He looked up and he noted that we were in a tunnel of sorts, prompting me to illuminate the ceiling as well. Indeed, it was a tunnel we were walking through, but where did it lead? Frisk stayed close to me and didn't say a word for most of the time, until we finally seemed to have reached the end of the tunnel. I saw Holmes carefully examining a strange stone door that laid before our eyes. "Holmes," I asked, "what is that symbol on the door?" only to hear a rather shocking response from him, "I do not know, Watson. I have studied like thousands, hundreds of thousands of symbols and marks of any syndicate, league, society, you name it, but I am afraid I do not recognize this symbol." It seemed even he was shocked of his own response, but just then he opened the door for us, as Frisk clinged to me in fear. "Ah, there we are," said my friend as we entered a large room._

* * *

 _We both thought it was just an ordinary cave of the mountain, until we saw a patch of green grass in the middle, and light was strangely dawning on it. "What do you make of that, Holmes?" I asked my friend, but just before he could provide me an explanation, we heard a voice out of nowhere saying "Howdy!". I prepaired my revolver, and Holmes was gripping on his cane, when the voice continued, "I'm down here, everyone." and all three of us were shocked to see a golden flower emerging from that patch of green grass, and the shock was greater to realise the flower was the one speaking._

\- Hi, I'm Flowey. Flowey the Flower!

\- Good evening to you, Flowey, _said my friend. I am Sherlock Holmes, and next to me are Dr. Watson and young child Frisk._

\- Hello, Flowey, _I said._

\- H...Hi...F-Flowey _, Frisk said._

\- You three are new to the Underground, aren't cha? _the flower said to us._

\- Yes, _I began saying._ We were here merely to rescue young Frisk here, and we stumbled upon this cave.

\- Oh, so you have no idea how things work around here? No worries, little old me will instruct you, _he said as he brought up a strange board, and we saw three hearts._

\- What is that, Holmes? _I asked my friend, who was just as curious as I, and seemed Frisk was instilled with the same curiosity._

\- See those hearts? Those represent your SOULS. The Green one is the Doctor's one, the Red one is the child's one, and the Orange one is the tall man's soul. Your SOULS can become stronger if they gain a lot of LV. _  
_  
\- What does LV stand for, _asked Holmes.  
_  
\- Why, Mr. Holmes, it stands for LOVE. I assume you want some LOVE, don't cha? Here, LOVE is shared through little white "friendliness pellets." Be sure you all take them. Okay? Are you ready? _  
_

 _Holmes, in his usual manner, told us both to dodge the pellets, and so we did. I believed, and this time I was right, that my friend sensed something was up with this flower._

\- Are you three playing a joke on me? You missed those pellets. Wanna try again?

\- Yes, _I said, while I secretly told Frisk to keep dodging._

 _Seeing we dodged again, the flower's expression changed from the usual demeanour to something a tad eviler. "Seriously? RUN. INTO. THE. BULLETS! ERR...I MEANT FRIENDLINESS PELLETS." So Holmes was right, the flower was indeed up to something and we dodged again the flower's bullets. Frisk was really swift in his moves, while I shot down a few of those bullets, and Holmes carefully parried the bullets with his cane._

\- Wow, you three are really getting on my nerves. How about you all DIE, _the flower said as he encircled our SOULS with a huge ring of bullets. Frisk clinged to me, and I was ready to fire a few shots, while Holmes was steadying himself with the cane. Just as we thought we'd make a last stand here, a fireball emerged at the evil flower in the last minute. I was still keeping my revolver at ready, and Holmes placed down the cane, advising "Watson, I think whoever saved us is not meaning us any harm," as he saw a rather large silhouette appearing from the darkness. The one who saved us was a rather large goat monster, with white fur, small horns, a gentle expression on her muzzle and wearing long, purple robes with the strange symbol we encountered earlier on the stony door. The goat monster was a female one, and I could notice Frisk seemed to have been conquered by her, as they let go of me. "What a miserable creature, to torture such a poor, innocent youth," she said in a soothing voice towards Frisk. "Oh. Hee hee hee," she giggled softly as she saw me and Holmes. "Good evening, gentlemen. I assume you are the guardians of this young child?"_

\- Dear Madam, _began my friend,_ we are not the guardians of the child, but merely his friends. I am Sherlock Holmes, and this is my associate, Dr. Watson, _Holmes said as he gestured towards me._ The young child goes by the name Frisk _, he said as he gestured towards Frisk._

\- My name is Toriel, and I'm the caretaker of the Ruins, _the lovely goat monster said towards us, as she extended her right paw for us to shake, which we all did._

\- T...Toriel? C-can...I...I stay with you? Frisk asked the goat monster, who looked at the young child in puzzlement.

\- Miss Toriel, _I smiled softly._ I believe the young child would appreciate your matronly figure around.

\- Ah, very well then, _she said as she took Frisk by the hand and began advancing in what she named the Ruins._

 _"What do you think about her, Holmes?" I asked my friend, as I knew he studied the matronly monster in detail. "She seems to have some noble origin, by the way she keeps her posture. And she definitely cares a great deal for children. Perhaps a little too much. However, this case is really interesting, perhaps the book I brought on German folklore will help us out at a point. Watson, just be wary of that flower. And for the moment, it would be good if you'd not use the revolver anymore."_


	4. Ruins of a Kingdom

**A/N: The case continues on.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

 _"Le royaume était rien qu'un légende."_

 _As we saw young Frisk holding out Miss Toriel's paw before advancing in the next room, Holmes and I followed suit after our little discussion. It seemed Frisk was listening to something Miss Toriel apparently started explaining before we arrived, "...they serve as ancient fusions between diversions and doorkeys. Please, adjust yourself to the sight of them." Holmes noticed the mechanism in this room, and he admired the goat monster as she gently crossed on the stones and pushed the lever at the other end, while also deciphering the mystery behind the mechanism, "Pressure pads. They have no reset timer, and are meant to be pressed just once." Frisk smiled towards us after he followed Toriel deeper into the Ruins, and it seemed to me Holmes was a bit captivated by the goat-woman's intelligence, because I had to ask him a few times "Holmes, are you alright?" before I could get his answer, as his eyes were fixated on the next corridor. "Yes, Watson. I was just intrigued by Miss Toriel's remarkable dilligence, she definitely would be a great tutor for children," to which I replied, "It may be true, Holmes."_

 _We walked through this new corridor, and Frisk was already put to the test of solving a puzzle. "I have marked the switches you need to press, Frisk," she said, to which the child timidly replied "o...ok-okay. I will...pr..press,... that s...switch.", as they pulled the first marked switch. "Holmes, this doesn't seem so far like a challenge," I whispered to my friend, but he was still interested in the child's actions, who managed to pull the second switch, liberating the path ahead. "Very good, very good, child!" Toriel said while handing out a paw for Frisk to hold onto and the pair advanced towards the next room. When they were out of earshot, Holmes could answer to what I thought was a pertinant observation, "Watson. You may have observed well, but this was all just a test for the child, not for our well-trained minds!" my friend said as he waved his right hand dismissively. "The challenges will begin only when the child will be forced to solve their problems alone", Sherlock Holmes said as he lit up his pipe. I didn't contradict him, as I knew his words were always proving true at a later time in any case we were solving, and we made our way to the next room, which had, on the ground, a rather strange pattern. Holmes noted it as well, and on a rather large tablet of stone hanging from a wall, I could read "The western room is the eastern room's blueprint," and Frisk was listening to me as I read the stone tablet, almost confused. Just as we thought we'd have a rather pleasant journey through the Ruins, a small frog came hopping towards us, and Frisk attempted to talk to the frog, "You are...a ve-very...n...nice...fr-frog." while smiling patiently. Miss Toriel glared at the small frog, who rushed away in retreat at the matronly monster's sight, and I could only comment in embarassment, "I do not think the frog meant any harm to Frisk, but, nonetheless, you are indeed very protective of the child." but she was only content to nod in agreement with my statement. I leveled to Frisk as I saw the upcoming puzzle and whispered to him, "You know, child, what lays before us is a bit dangerous for you to cross. But I think the pattern in the other room is the key to solving the puzzle. I do not doubt Miss Toriel will want to guide you through it, because she seems to be very fond of you."_

 _Just as I finished whispering to Frisk this vital clue, I could notice Holmes was already crossing through the spike puzzle and he did so without any issues. "Watson, Madam Toriel, Frisk, I will await you three here", he told us as he puffed from his pipe. Toriel indeed crossed the spike puzzle holding Frisk's hand and smiling briefly towards the small child, while I kept steady on the pathway behind them. "Oh dear, perhaps puzzles are a little too dangerous for Frisk," she said towards Holmes, but he did nothing else but blink in recognition, as he was waiting for me. "Ugh, Holmes. How many of these puzzles we'll have to solve? And where are we headed to, anyway?" I said as I admitted those puzzles were exercising my wits and my stamina. "Watson. I have no doubt the matronly lady is leading us towards her lodgings, and I believe our task would be to continue observing and asessing the facts that present themselves before us." he said to me as he encouraged me to advance in the next room._

 _Toriel was now explaining something to the child, and all I could note was a mannequin in the corner of this room. "...as a human living in the underground, monsters may try to attack you." and I remembered the flower Holmes told me to be wary about. "...if that happens, you will enter a fight. It would be best for you to strike up a conversation. And I will come to resolve the conflict. Practice talking to the dummy," she told Frisk as she pushed them towards the mannequin. The child seemed to enjoy talking to the doll made out of cotton and wood, and Toriel was pleased with the child's result. "Hee hee hee. I'm sorry, gentlemen, but you two must try as well." she said to us with a soft giggle, as if she was a bit embarassed she had to attract our attention. I tried talking to the 'dummy' as well, and she was impressed by my knowledge, and Holmes agreed to do the same, despite being reluctant at first. He seemed to have recalled a line from a play we saw a week ago, and it seemed to have impressed him. "Tu ne sais pas que le royaume que tu cherches n'est rien qu'une légende?", a line which supposedly made Miss Toriel widen her eyes in surprise and intrigued her at the same time, "Mr. Holmes, could I know what were you saying?" she said in a soft tone. "It was a line from a play Watson and I watched some time ago. It was about a French kingdom long gone, but the playwright didn't seem really bright in composing this. What I was just saying was... 'Don't you know that the kingdom you seek is nothing but a legend?' " to which she said, "Oh dear." as she wiped out a few tears from the corner of her red eyes, "I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Holmes. It reminds me of times long gone. Let us continue, dear child," the matronly monster said as she extended her paw out to Frisk, and the child gently grabbed her paw._

\- What could've distressed her so, Holmes? _I asked, concerned for Miss Toriel's state._

\- Use my methods, my dear Watson, _my friend told me as he was also looking down the next hallway._ _  
_  
\- You told me she's of a noble origin. Perhaps born in a family with a lot of riches? And I assume she was a countess, or a baroness. Her distressed state was most likely, because of her lost family, _I said, trying to use Holmes' methods. But Holmes didn't seem extremely pleased with my deduction._

\- Indeed, she has a noble background. However, she's not a monster of lower rank, as you wrongly assumed. She is, in fact, a queen. Don't tell me you failed to observe the way she carries herself around, _Holmes said as he was searching for some tobbaco in his traveling pouch._

\- What do you mean by that, Holmes? _I said in puzzlement._

\- Her posture, as she carries herself, betrays the determination only someone with leader capacities would have, _my friend said as he finally lit back up his pipe._ She is also capable of fighting to a degree, if given the proper cause.

\- Holmes, I hope you are not serious about that! _I retorted, bewildered._

\- I am dead serious, Watson. As about her distressed state, she was definitely crying for someone she still cares about _, he concluded as he puffed a bit from the pipe and arranged his deerstalker cap._

 _As we finally sorted another fact thrown at us, we advanced into the next room, where Frisk was now put before their first true challenge. "I'm sorry, my child. I have to request that you walk to the end of this room, all alone," she said to Frisk as she dashed away from us. "Holmes, shall we-" I began saying, only to be interrupted by my friend's swift silencing gesture. "Frisk has to walk alone. And we'll follow only until they finish this challenge. Go along, dear friend, do not worry," Holmes said to them as he leveled to the child, with a gentle smile. While he was so eager to put the child in front of this challenge, I was a bit concerned for their wellbeing, and I think Holmes noticed that, because one minute later he was chuckling at my bewilderment. "Do not worry, Watson. Frisk will be just fine. Regard, they are almost at the far end of this room." he said as he pointed towards a blue dot that was closing in on another corridor. "Let us make some haste and catch up with them," I could hear from him as he started walking down the hallway. Indeed, after a few minutes of waiting for all of us, Miss Toriel revealed herself from behind a strange stony pillar that resembled Greek columns and leveled to Frisk, as she said "Do not worry, my child. I was here the whole time, I did not leave you." The child pulled her in a hug, and I could discern, between a few sobs, Frisk's hesitant words, "I...I...w-was...afraid. Af...Afraid...to lose...lose ...y-you.", to which she softly replied "I'm truly sorry, my child. There was a reason behind all this," she said as she gently ruffled their hair, "I wanted to see how independent you are."_

\- Miss Toriel, I must admit, Frisk was looking at us with some worry, _I said._ They were almost expecting my friend and I to intervene...

\- Watson, remember what I told you, _Holmes said sternly._ Suffice to say, Frisk did well in their attempt at independence, _Holmes said as he softly smiled towards Frisk and Miss Toriel._

\- Will you watch over them, while I return to some matters I must attend to? _the matronly monster asked the two of us, visibly concerned for the young one's state._

\- Of course we will, Miss Toriel, _I said as I placed my hand on the child's right shoulder, and my friend nodded solemnly._

 _Frisk turned towards us after Miss Toriel left, and he was curious about what we were thinking. The child didn't seem to get over their fear of speaking, and I was certain the rather shocking abandonment would cause severe trauma for the young one's development, but for some reason, he seemed to like Holmes as much as he did with me. I was indeed surprised to hear that they wanted my friend to be honest about Miss Toriel's concerns for themselves, and about her as a monster, "Mr...Ho...Holmes. Can you...t-tell...me...what do..what do you think...of...T-Toriel?"_

\- Frisk, _he began in his usual tone,_ Toriel, your caretaker, is a very gentle monster. I hope you don't mind me giving you advice, young one, _Holmes said as he leveled to Frisk._ Try to defeat your fear of speaking. I can see how fond you are of her and how much you regard her as a mother.

 _Needless to say, the child's cheeks had a tint of red as my friend mused out the deepest thoughts they must've had about Miss Toriel. "Holmes is right, Frisk. I know you do not feel like speaking, but I am sure you will progress in time with defeating your fears." I said as I gently smiled towards the small child, who rushed then to hug both of us, in turns. Holmes, this time, responded with a gentle pat on the child's hair, while I returned the child's gesture. Frisk then proceeded to the next room, with us behind him as protectors. A small frog monster approached us, seemingly interested in giving out some advice, as I could discern in the monster's eyes. "Ribbit, ribbit. Excuse me. Remember that, when you ACT a certain way or FIGHT until their HP is low, monsters may not want to fight you anymore. If that happens, please use some MERCY, humans." Frisk seemed to dislike the idea of fighting, and I was against the idea as well, because I have seen enough in the wars that raged through India. Holmes, while he was a singlestick expert and proficient boxer, he joined the idea of not fighting as well, making a really stunning promise to me and Frisk, "Watson. Young Frisk. While I do have my share of past adventures that had a degree of violence, for this time only, I will not fight unless the situation would present no other resort than this one." and the child smiled softly seeing my friend promising this.  
_

 _"What is that, Holmes?" I asked as I pointed towards the yellow star forming in the leaves. "Frisk, why don't you go and investigate that for me, young one?" Holmes said, in the jovial manner he had when making use of the Baker Street Irregulars, to find out certain news only the street urchins could grasp without being seen. He was watching the child as they dashed towards the small star forming in the leaves. At Frisk's gentle hand touching the star, there was a small chime, as if..."Frisk saved our progress here. Each time we will see one of these stars, he will be able to save our progress. We cannot interfere with those, Watson." Frisk was curious to see what was in the next room, and I accompanied them, only to discover it was a small room, with water flowing on the sides, and in the middle, there was a bowl of candies sitting atop of a stone.  
_

 _-_ Let us take four, one for each, Frisk, _I said as I gave the child a small lift to reach the bowl._

\- Do...Do you think Mr. Holmes will like these? _Frisk told me, seemingly at ease with my presence and trying to defeat their fear of speaking._

\- I am sure he will, _I said with a smile._ The fourth one, keep it for Miss Toriel, alright?

\- Yes! I really want to give her a candy too, _the child smiled, a tint of red forming on their cheeks._

 _\- Let us head back to Holmes, he is waiting for us, I said as I took the child's hand._

 _Frisk then rushed to give Holmes one candy, and the slender detective took it heartily, offering a polite smile. "Thank you, young one. I will place it in my special pocket. Now, let us go further, we must reach Miss Toriel's house." Indeed, the Ruins were full of puzzles, and of monsters that approached us curiously. We kept our best at talking to them politely as if we were meeting people at our residence in Baker Street, and Frisk was all complimenting the monsters, on their posture, their widsom and so forth, I must admit this was by far the most interesting adventure we were involved in. We kept walking along the road, until we found a ghost lying down on a pile of leaves, pretending to be sleeping. "H-Holmes! A g-ghost!" I said, with some fear, as I wasn't really looking forward to such a meeting, and Holmes could only laugh ironically. "My dear Watson, don't you see the ghost is harmless? He is only suffering from a serious case of depression. I believe he needs some attention from someone that is able to show emotion. Help young Frisk with this. I will stand aside for this time." Frisk was looking curiously at my friend, and I explained to them that Holmes didn't enjoy expressing his emotions because that would affect his deductive reasoning. The child didn't seem to understand, so I used the general metaphor I had for Holmes' accurate sense of deduction. "Look at my watch," I said as I tucked out my pocketwatch. "If the pocketwatch would be scratched, it wouldn't be accurate with showing time anymore. Holmes is like this pocketwatch. If he would allow emotions to cloud his judgement, he wouldn't be the great detective he is today." It seemed that Frisk understood the principle, so he took me along in helping out the ghost._

\- oh...who are you...i'm napstablook...and i'm a ghost...

\- I am Doctor Watson, _I began saying,_ and this is my friend, Frisk. What distresses you, Mr. Napstablook?

\- i...want to be alone...everyone hates me...nobody knows me...i miss my cousin...hapstablook...

\- Most assuredly, your cousin is missing you too, _I said, while Frisk was content to patiently smile at the ghost._

\- no...i just...love the quiet...want to be alone...

\- I get it, Napsta, but you have to be happy! _Frisk said, encouraged by my compassion towards the ghost.  
_  
\- here...i will...show you...something... _the ghost said as he formed a tophat with his tears._ do...you like it...i call it...'dapperblook'...

\- Yes! It looks so well on you, _Frisk said while they showed a big smile on their face._

\- Sir, you're indeed a gentleman with that look, _I said, gently smiling in turn._

\- oh gee...i stay here in the ruins because there's nobody around...but this time i met two nice people...oh wait...i'm rambling, i'll get out of your way... _Mr. Napstablook said as he vanished in the thin air._

 _Holmes, content he didn't have to witness more of this, finally rejoined us as he puffed from his pipe. "Well done, Watson! And you too, young Frisk. You show great promise to be a person of morals and of strong convictions." I looked at Holmes, and his features were betraying the usual excitement he had whenever he was on the trail, and he held his pipe between his teeth, while motioning towards us to move forward. Indeed, we weren't far from the end of the small Ruins, and next to another door stood a frog monster, which seemed to be afraid of something or someone. "Ribbit. Just between you and I, I saw Toriel coming out of here with a few groceries. She didn't tell me what were those for." and Frisk naturally asked "Why didn't you talk to her?", but the frog was seemingly intimidated by the matronly monster's fierceness and stature. Holmes then called out to us, prompting the both of us to rush at his voice, "Watson and young Frisk. We're approaching Miss Toriel's lodgings, it's just beyond this corridor," he pointed to us the shape of a building profiling through the narrow corridor. The child, naturally, hearing we were closer to Miss Toriel, dashed through the corridor, while I was calling out to them from behind "Wait up, young Frisk! We don't know what's in there!" but Holmes assured me I had nothing to fear. "The house that presents itself is nothing more than a safe haven for us and the child. And I will finally be able to ask Miss Toriel more about herself.", my friend said in a concerned voice, as he watched Frisk saving their progress and then advancing in the colorful home before everyone's eyes.  
_

 _The house in the Ruins had two small windows and it was painted in a rather dashing purple, the colour ancient byzantine leaders used to wear, as Holmes once told me. The door itself was large enough for us to enter, and just as we made it past the threshold, we were enveloped in a scent of cinnamon and another scent I failed to recognize. "It's butterscotch, Watson," said my friend as he caught a whiff of the scent in full. "Yes, it is, mister Holmes. I baked it as a surprise for you three, and especially for my child right here, " she said as she gently ruffled young Frisk's hair._

\- Why don't you, gentlemen, make yourselves comfortable? I have another surprise for Frisk, and then I will return to join you, _the gentle goat monster said as she pointed towards the larger room on the left._

 _As we entered it, Holmes remarked this was the living room and could imagine with ease, that the great reading chair in front of the fireplace belonged to Toriel. He also noted the rather used books the gentle lady monster had in her bookcase, "They are mostly books about monster history. All of them talk about a monster exodus and how they are trapped by a barrier. There are also various references to a King. Hm...I wonder..." and I could see his brows furrowing in thought, like he used to do, while searching in his pockets for the book on German folklore. "Ah, there it is!" he said with a gleeful exclamation, as he began sharing his deduction with me, "I read that the Germanic people have this mythos of the King under the Mountain. A sleeping hero waiting for the day their kingdom would be in peril and they would rise in eternal glory to save it. But it seems this kingdom queen Toriel must've ruled at some point, alongside with her King, hasn't vanished completely. However, there is a peril threatening the lives of these monsters, and with this, I hope we can solve the mystery of the six missing children as well. All the facts point that they have wandered and have been cared for by our matronly queen living here."_

\- Holmes, but that's impossible! How could they have survived in all these six years? Where are they? _I said, completely shocked._

\- That is something I can share with you, gentlemen, _Miss Toriel entered the room as she heard my questions._

\- Your Majesty, _began Holmes to say as he performed a corteous bow,_ we are indeed curious to know what happened to your kingdom.

\- How did you know? _she said, almost ashamed someone figured she was indeed a queen, while seating herself in her reading chair._

\- Your posture gave you away, as well as the fierce determination only a leader with convictions would possess, Your Highness, _Holmes said while he seated himself back on the wooden chair to the left of the large table._

 _\- Please, do not tell Frisk what you're about to hear, Queen Toriel said to us as she looked with pleading eyes._ I do not want the child to foolishly risk their life for monsterkind.

\- We will do our best to protect them, _I assured her in the softest of timbres I could produce._

\- Please, begin with your tale. And do not omit anything, as even the most trivial of facts could be important, _Holmes said as he leaned on the chair, the way he did in Baker Street, when taking cases from various clients._

 _"The tale of our kind begins long ago, when we were peacefully living along with humans. One day, war broke out between the two races, but I don't know exactly why did the humans declare war on us. Various reports were telling us that one of our kind had killed a human and absorbed their soul, but that was all. Victory belonged to the humans, and most monsters were turned to dust. Seven of the most powerful magicians of the humans have created a barrier that is impossible to break, and my husband, in his reckless actions, he tried to figure out a way to break down the barrier."  
_

\- Queen Toriel, did you have any children? _I asked her, in curiosity._ I noticed how kind you are to Frisk, _I said._

\- Yes. I had a son, and an adopted daughter. My son's name was Asriel, and my daughter's was Chara, _the queen replied, almost visibly disturbed by my question._

\- What happened to them? _I asked in a concerned tone._

 _She seemed to hesitate for a moment, and I could see tears forming in her eyes, her paws shaking a bit. "My apologies if I'm asking a rather distressing question," I said in embarassment as I gently placed my hands over her shaking paws. "but it is important that my friend knows all the facts," I said as I turned my head towards Holmes, who was listening with his eyes closed, puffing slowly from his pipe, only to reply himself a few moments later, "Watson is correct, Your Highness. I can imagine the loss of your children has left behind a wound that hasn't healed for centuries. The same it is for your husband, as he compensates your absence with trying to figure out a solution for everyone. But every wound deserves a proper cure, and your Highnesses' is not yet found. Please, take your time to adjust to this situation, and when you feel confident enough, you can continue the story." Holmes' words indeed reached the gentle queen's soul, as she, after exhaling heavily and adjusting herself, continued her explanations. "Chara fell down through the hole of the mountain you gentlemen and Frisk have come. My son, Asriel, found her laying on the bed of flowers and decided to help her out. He thought she'd make a great sibling, but the child was strange in her behaviour and didn't seem to adjust so well with the life we were living. One day, she fell ill and asked us to take her to the human village above, to see the flowers once more. However, we couldn't fulfill that request, and the next morning, she was dead. I don't really know what Asriel did, because he carried her away that morning...and returned later battered and bruised, only to turn to dust right in front of Asgore and I, as we were sitting in the garden." The fierce queen was now crying her heart out, and I could only pull the gentle queen in a reassuring hug. "Good God, you have gone through quite a shock. There, there, do not worry. My friend and I will try our best to make things right for you." Frisk, in that moment, saw Toriel sobbing uncontrollably, and they tugged on my pants to leave Toriel to them, as they tugged on her robes, and she leveled down to Frisk, as the child pulled her in a tight grip, whispering softly in her ear "Don't cry, Mom. Mr. Holmes is brilliant, and he will solve everything. But I want to help as well..." to which Toriel's eyes were widened in shock. "Have you listened in to our conversation?"  
_

\- Yes, and I want to help out, _Frisk said gently._ I want to help out my mother, to help her be happy.

\- My dear child..., _she said looking towards the young child who wanted to be selfless._

\- Frisk, _I could hear my friend's voice resounding, breaking in the moment of tension._ You say you wish to help out? I believe your role in this case is indeed vital, and you are the only one who can undo this mess humanity has pulled on these poor monsters. The kingdom is in ruins as of now, and you're the only one who can bring its' former glory back, with the help of the King and the Queen here.

\- Good God, Holmes! Whatever do you suggest? _I asked in puzzlement._

\- The Queen wishes to prevent the young child from leaving, that much is obvious in her intentions. However, I have no doubt the child will offer their MERCY without any hesitation, even if it would cost them their life. They care about Her Majesty far too much to describe in any words, and they resent the idea of fighting. Your Highness, _said Holmes as he turned towards Queen Toriel,_ allow us to move on further with our journey. We will do our best to save you from your loneliness, fulfill your expectations and fully defeat your fears. Do not worry, the young one is safe with us.

\- Mr. Holmes, however did you know? _she looked shocked as my friend completely read her emotions._

 _\- Your Highness, it is obvious you fear for the child's safety. And you are concerned for some reason that, should the child meet the King, he will be in danger.  
_

\- Yes, _she said, still in shock._ Asgore ensued a human killing policy, and I was disgusted with his actions, that is why I'm living in the Ruins. I will allow you three to leave, but..., _she leveled to Frisk while hugging them, telling the child to stay safe._ _  
_

_Time and time again I vouched for us that we will keep them safe from harm, as she guided us towards the basement and opened a rather large door, with the same symbol on it. "What is this symbol," asked Holmes before we left for good. "It is the Delta Rune, the symbol of my family, Mr. Holmes. It is also the emblem of the Kingdom of Monsters. Please, can I don the rune on something you possess? I want Frisk to feel safer seeing the symbol." she said, as she pointed towards Holmes' pipe. My friend gently put the pipe in her paws, and she, with some sort of fire, managed to engrave the Rune on Holmes' pipe. "Thank you, Mr. Holmes," she said to him, while forming a gracing smile on her muzzle, and my friend nodded solemnly. We could hear the door behind us close heavily, and in front of us stood a rather large forest, covered entirely in snow. "Where are we going to go, Holmes?" I asked my friend. "We're going to rebuild a kingdom, Watson. And for the time being, we have no destination."  
_


	5. Monsters' Tales and Holmes's Musings

**A/N: Excuse me for not using caps in Papyrus' speech.  
While I know it is canon of him to speak in caps, I have written him normally because that's how Watson would transcribe it.  
**

 **Anyway, the adventure goes on!**

* * *

 _"What is out of the common is usually a guide rather than a hindrance."_

 _The forest seemed to go on for hours, and our attires weren't exactly suitable for the rather chilly atmosphere that surrounded us. Holmes' stamina allowed him to face out cold or warm weather alike, but I wasn't that used to the cold weather due to my time in India, and adjusting to London's climate was rather difficult for me. Frisk was shivering with cold already, and Holmes must've noticed their trembling, because I was startled when he called out to them, "Young one, here, take my cape. It might brush off the chilling cold that goes brazing against your skin." His offer was generously taken as the child tried, with care, to place the rather large cape on their shoulders, and I was smiling a bit seeing young Frisk under such a large cape. "He looks like a monarch, doesn't he, Holmes?" I said to my friend, but he was content to admire the young one. "Watson, if the child were to be a monarch, there would be no doubt their rule would bring peace and prosperity to any land. But the child wants to become a detective one day, to stave off the evil that masquerades itself in the flesh and blood of humanity." I stared at my friend in surprise, "Holmes, but the child is a pacifist! How could he-"_

\- It is simplicity itself, my dear Watson. Even though he is against violence, if justice will demand it or there will be no other resort, he will fight, _my friend said as he smoked from the Delta-runed pipe._ They are walking in the footsteps Miss Toriel laid out for them, and I have no doubt they will also walk in the footsteps that the King will lay in front of them.

\- Everytime you explain things like these, I feel like I'm the only one who fails to see ahead of himself, _I said in embarassment.  
_  
\- My dear Watson, I'm offering you the possibility to use my methods. However, your attempts, feeble as they are, prove that there's a shine of genius within, and your vital observations aid the case on certain circumstances, _Holmes said to me as he smiled gently._

 _As we finished our rather short conversation, I could catch a glimpse of a rushing cape towards us. "Frisk is coming back, Holmes, but they're running. Whatever could've happened?" I asked my friend, who was looking in the same direction as I. "While I am certain the forest itself doesn't present any danger, there must've been a strange sound that startled them, so they are rushing to tell us." Indeed, as the child stopped before us, taking their time and gaping for breath, they tugged on Holmes' pants. "I know you said the forest isn't dangerous, but-but I heard something..." Frisk began to tell us, panic rising on their face for a moment._

\- What did you hear, young one? _my friend asked the child covered in his cape.  
_  
\- As I was walking ahead of you, I heard something...behind that...that bush over there, _Frisk said as they pointed in fear towards a distant bush next to an oak tree._

 _Holmes held out his cane in defense, while I was prepairing my revolver, as we headed towards the point Frisk told us about. My friend signed us both to be silent, while he analyzed the ground around the bush. He knelt on the ground, took out his magnifying glass and the measuring tape, and after a good ten minutes' examination, I could see him placing those back. "There was someone here. Regard those footsteps," he said as he pointed towards a pair of footsteps that stood right behind the bush. "And here's a curious thing, they seemed to have vanished after Frisk came towards us to report. It looks like this patch of grass and snow was burnt somehow." Both Frisk and I were shocked as we looked at the marks ourselves, but Holmes' reasoning was far from over. "Whoever was standing here, has some level of magical prowess, just like Miss Toriel has," and I couldn't stop gazing at my friend with utter shock written on my face._

\- Why are you so surprised, my dear Watson? _my friend asked me, but I could only stare at a stranger that profiled themselves behind my two companions._

\- Look behind you, Holmes, _I could only say, as the stranger seemed to be no less taller than Frisk._

 _As they turned to face the direction of my gaze, I knew Holmes' brows would furrow in questioning, and Frisk was clinging to the slender detective as fear was naturally catching up to them. "May we know who are you, young one?" Holmes said, as he kept his cane and a stern, protective posture as he was standing beside Frisk. The stranger could only leave out a chuckle and told Holmes to lower his weapon as he didn't mean any harm. "sorry to have startled ya' like that, especially the little kid. name's sans. sans the skeleton. who're you?"_

\- I am Sherlock Holmes, and the man behind me is my associate, Dr. Watson. The child clinging to my feet in fear is Frisk, our companion, _Holmes said as he put aside the cane and gently ruffled the child's hair._

\- oh, so you're the humans. that's cool, cause i don't want to capture any humans, but, i gotta warn you about my brother, papyrus. he's a human-hunting fanatic and he really wants to capture you, _the skeleton named Sans told us._ anyway, if you wanna hide, the kid can hide behind that lamp, _he continued, pointing towards a lamp next to what seemed to be a small housing,_ but you two gotta hide behind that bush over there. and don't make a sound.

\- Very well, we appreciate your generosity, Mr. Sans, _I said while lifting my hat._

 _We hid in the bush as instructed, and Frisk was standing behind the lamp, while the skeleton monster seemed to act casually. "Holmes, what do you think of him?" I asked, but my friend silenced me. "Listen. That is his brother over there, and whatever he has to say is more important than my deductions, Watson." my friend said as he pointed towards a taller skeleton, wearing orange clothes.  
_

\- what's up, bro? _Sans asked his brother, Papyrus._

\- You know what's up, brother! Eight days have passed and you still haven't **\- recalibrated -** your puzzles! You hang around your station, as always. Whatever are you doing in here? _the tall skeleton looked at his brother._

\- i'm staring at this cool lamp. want to try it? _Mr. Sans said, with a grin._

\- I don't want to waste my time on your nonsense! What if a human comes down here? I want to be the one, I must be the one! I will capture a human and then, I will get all the things I deserve, like respect and recognition! I will become a member of the Royal Guard, and people will ask to be my friends! _Sans' brother said, with a surprising enthusiasm._

\- maybe this lamp will help you, _the small skeleton said, as he pointed to the object._

 _"Holmes, he intends to hand Frisk over to his brother!" I whispered to my friend, completely shocked by the betrayal of this small monster, but Holmes shook his head at my reaction. "No, Watson. He's not doing that, and his brother is not that bright as Sans is. I can see the small skeleton is having some affinity for exact sciences, while his brother is still learning the ways of the world." Holmes' deduction was correctly proven by the completely childish reaction of Sans' brother, Papyrus._

\- Sans, you are not helping me! You are completely a bag of lazybones! All you do is sit and boondoggle! _Papyrus said as he was stomping his foot, like a spoiled child would do._

\- hey, take it easy bro. i've had a **ton** of work today. a skele- **ton**! _Sans said, as he was winking with his right eye towards us.  
_

\- Sans, curse you and your puns...! _Papyrus said as he was smiling, while pretending to stomp his foot._

\- come on. you're smiling, bro, _the smaller skeleton said._

\- I am and, honestly, I hate it! Why do I have to do so much work, just to get some recognition? _his brother said._

\- wow. sounds like you're working yourself **down to the bone** , _Sans commented, while grinning._

\- Why do I even bother to instill some sense of discipline in you, brother? _Papyrus said, as he left out a sigh._ I will attend to my puzzles, for now. As for your work..., make sure to put some **backbone** into it! Nyeh-heh-heh, _the tall skeleton wandered off with a laughter._

 _"it's safe now for y'all to come out," Sans said as he waved towards us. "so, what do you think of my brother?" he said as looked towards Holmes, who was still in deep thought after the encounter. "Your brother seems younger than you, even though the height difference would say otherwise. You are a scientist, as you seem to particularly enjoy tinkering with exact numbers and love stargazing. You are also possessing a high level of magic, and you're quite formidable as an opponent for anyone who'd try to cross paths to fight you. Your brother isn't as strong, but given the correct cause, he can hold out on his own for some time." Sans looked with a surprised grin towards my friend, and after a few moments he could only say "i have no idea how did you do that, but you have read me like a book", only to leave out a shrug of what seemed like defeat. "anyway, my brother isn't in a very good mood, and he invented some tricky puzzles to surprise any human that would fall down here. you'd be doing me a huge favor if you'd show yourselves to him."  
_

\- We'll try to, Mr. Sans, _I said._

\- it's just sans, okay, _he said smiling to me._ i'll meet ya later, _the small skeleton said, as he walked away from us.  
_

 _Frisk saved our progress, as a small yellow star was forming in front of their eyes, while we were standing guard and recollecting the facts given to us. "Holmes, however did you know he was a scientist?" I asked my friend, in curiosity. "There's more to him that meets the eye, Watson. He is not showing off the entirety of skills he possesses, but it is obvious he knows a lot about Frisk, as I could surprise his left eye glowing cyan for a second while looking towards the child." My eyes were literally widened in shock as someone knew the child we were guiding, but I was hoping Holmes could discern whatever for did the skeleton know Frisk. "I am not quite sure from where is he acquainted with Frisk, but he wouldn't tell anyway," my friend said as he searched for some tobbaco in his traveling pouch and some matches to light up his Delta-runed pipe. "Now, let us go be introduced to Papyrus, his younger brother!" he said as he gestured to me and Frisk to lead the way. I believe we were walking for less than five minutes when we stopped in front of the two skeleton brothers, who were discussing about someone else. "As I was saying about Undyne...", began Papyrus, only to be interrupted by his brother pointing towards us, "Oh, wow, Sans! Those are the humans?!" I heard the younger skeleton exclaim with joy as he looked towards us. "Humans! You shall not pass through this area! However, I want to challenge you to solve my puzzles!" Papyrus said as he stood in a rather silly, heroic posture._

\- We'd be more than delighted to solve your conundrums, _said Holmes._ I am Sherlock Holmes, and the man in the grey suit is my colleague, Dr. Watson. The child next to him is our friend and companion, Frisk.

\- Wowie, the tall human is really a fan of puzzles! _the tall skeleton said as he showed us the first puzzle._

 _"This is the Invisible Electricity Maze! If you fail to solve it, you'll be zapped and...the amount of fun you will probably have will be rather small." Papyrus was saying when we suddenly advanced, only for him to get 'zapped', as he put it. He then childishly berated his older brother for interfering with the puzzle, but Sans was content to tell him we had to hold the orb Papyrus was having in his bony hands. "Ah, Watson," Holmes told me, "the skeleton already revealed to us the solution. He seems to genuinely want to build the most amazing puzzles in the world, but alas, he forgets the first rule of puzzle-building, never offer to the challenged one the solution on a plate! However, for the sake of pretense, let's just make him believe we found the path on our own. Ready? You first, Frisk. Impress him," my friend leveled to the child as he gave the orb to Frisk. "We will follow behind, don't worry," I said to Frisk as they were hesitating in moving forward. A few carefully placed steps later, we could hear surprise in the tall skeleton's voice, "Wowie, the kid actually solved the puzzle! They must be a fan of puzzles too! Anyway, nyeh-heh-heh, the next puzzle won't be as easy as the next one!" and then he wandered away down towards the next puzzle. "Holmes, are you sure these puzzles will provide any challenge?" I asked my friend, disbelief written all over my face. "They are providing to be nothing but a mere distraction along the way, my dear Watson. The real enigma here is what threatens this kingdom and what is the fate of the six children. Frisk is the key towards rebuilding this kingdom that stands a few steps away from destruction. Let us enjoy the skeleton brothers' company, while we reach our destination, shall we?"_

 _I must admit I wasn't getting really excited to see all the puzzles laid in front of us, as they all seemed childish, and far too simple for Holmes' genius, and to some extent, for Frisk's smarts as well. We also encountered a rather curious pair of dogs that held around huge axes, their names were Dogamy and Dogaressa, and apparently they were part of the Royal Guard, which seemed like the elite troops of this falling kingdom. "Let us pass, we do not mean any harm," Holmes attempted to parley with them, but the two were having none of it, so we were trying to act out - mainly because of Frisk's idea of not fighting - until the child themselves told us to roll in the dirt. "Are you three...actually puppies?" they asked after taking a whiff in full out of us, and that had to be the most curious question addressed to us so far. It allowed us a possibility in tricking the dogs we were actually "dogs that could pet other dogs" - in the pair's words - and we were relieved that, after passing the two guards, we could finally arrive in a town called Snowdin. "This is our destination, Holmes?" I asked, almost exhausted by the puzzles, and Frisk was also tired, as the child looked at us with sleepy eyes. "Considering your stamina is rather exhausted, my friends, it would be wise for you to rest for a few minutes. There's an inn nearby and a shop. As for me, I will investigate further." Holmes said to us._

 _[Holmes' POV]_

 _I began walking around the hospitable town, that had a Christmas tree in the middle, with presents around it, and a bear-like monster placed his present under the tree. It was indeed peculiar to see a Christian tradition here, under the mountain. I didn't stop to ask them any questions, only until I noticed some monsters standing outside a restaurant called Grillby's. Apart from everyone, a mouse-like monster, covered by a green and white scarf, pointed me towards the town's library. "Just keep heading up, you'll see an orange building with a misspelled sign. That's the library." Indeed, the town was more like a small village, in numbers, and it wasn't too long until I reached the library. I entered the building and asked the monster that was obviously the librarian in charge, if they have any books regarding monsters' history. "We have a lot of history books around here, good sir. You may look at them if you wish, we only have four bookshelves", she replied. The bookshelves had books arranged by colour rather than alphabetically, but there was one that caught up my attention, mainly because I have seen the book in Miss Toriel's house. While that book had a mark at a page about the exodus, this one was referring to the monsters themselves, particularly their SOULs. "Love, hope, compassion...this is what people say monsters' SOULs are made of. But the absolute nature of the 'SOUL' is unknown. After all, humans have proven their SOULs don't need these things to exist," and my thought immediately went to Watson's nature of compassion and care towards his patients, and most of all towards myself, "He would indeed disagree with the notion that humans aren't able to feel emotions." I placed that book back, and picked up the second volume of Monster History. I could note this one was read far often that the first, and, similarly to the first, it had a mark at a different chapter, that treated the monsters' capacity of fighting. "Because they are made of magic, monsters' bodies are attuned to their SOUL. If a monster doesn't want to fight, its' defenses will weaken. And the crueler the intentions of our enemies, the more their attacks will hurt us. Therefore, if a being with a powerful SOUL struck with the desire to kill...um, let's end the chapter here." These pieces of information weren't enough for me, and I kept looking for the third volume, which, similarly to the second, was just as used. The mark was left at a chapter about magic, "While monsters are mostly made of magic, humans are mostly made of water. Humans, with their physical forms, are far stronger than us. But they will never know the joy of expressing themselves through magic. They'll never get a bullet-patterned birthday card..."  
_

 _The train of my thoughts was now forming a deduction. The books, given their worn state, must've been read by someone who was very, very interested in knowing how to kill the monsters, and it was either one of the six children or one of the adopted children of Queen Toriel and her unknown King. And the monsters fear us humans gravely, given the fact we are perceived as stronger and we're apparently capable to express through magic ourselves. A killer seems to be on the loose around, and things don't look good if that happens, the lives of these monsters are in the line. I was about to pick up the fourth tome of Monsters' History, when I could see a sheet of paper sliding away from the book. It seemed to be a school report, and the one who wrote it was hasty in finishing this, apparently, because the handwriting seemed to be illegible at some points. However, I was able, with meticulous observation, to decipher the text, which was rather peculiar. "Monster funerals, technically speaking, are cool as heck. When monsters get old and kick the bucket, they turn into dust. At funerals, we take that dust and spread it on that person's favourite thing. Then, their essence will continue to live on in that thing...I'm getting really sick writing this, am I at page minimum yet?" This reminded me of previous rites when Christendom was still trying to adjust itself in the world - there were incinerating rituals that used the human's ash in a similar manner - and I was indeed surprised at the similarity of traditions between our race and monsters. "I must return to Watson and Frisk, they must've taken their well deserved rest."_

 _[End of Holmes' POV]_

 _As we were indeed recovering from the rather exhausting journey, Frisk and I were waiting for Holmes outside the inn. The slender detective seemed to be pleased with his findings, and he warned us that a killer was on the loose, planning to end the lives of these monsters. "Holmes, if that's the case, shouldn't we see dust all around us?" I asked in concern, while Frisk kept close to me, in fear. "Indeed, Watson, but I believe the killer hadn't manifested in this realm simply because it doesn't exist. However, there's evidence someone had been very interested in studying the monsters, and there are two reasons why someone would be interested. Either they're really passionate, or they are about to elaborate a dangerous plan." He wasn't joking with that, I could see, as he puffed from his pipe nervously. "We should really go on, Watson. There's still much to discover and so little we found, and we must be cautious should young Papyrus decide to act on his idea of capturing us," my friend said as he led us away from town, past a rather huge house decorated for Christmas time, only to discover he was right about Papyrus, because the latter was indeed in front of us, decided to lay a challenge.  
_

\- Humans. Allow me to talk about some complex feelings, _the tall skeleton began saying.  
_

\- What is it, my young friend? _I asked, while Holmes seemed content to watch the whole scene._

\- I believe you must surely admire me for my puzzle-solving skills, and you want to have a cool friend like me think you are cool.

\- Yeah, you're really cool, _Frisk said._

\- I don't ever wonder how having lots of friends is like...I pity you, lonely humans! Do not worry, I will be your...

\- Friend? _I completed the skeleton, only to notice that he was indeed troubled by the idea._

\- This is all wrong...I have to capture you, I can't be your friend! Only then I can become the newest member of the Royal Guard! _Papyrus said as he uncovered a bone rapier._

\- Young one, if you need a duel to prove you can be a Royal Guard, I will be more than happy to duel you _, Holmes said, prepairing his cane._

 _Indeed, as my friend saw the skeleton had all the intention of hurting us, he gave me his coat, remaining in a white shirt and his usual black pants, wearing black leather shoes. He rolled his sleeves up and took fighting positions, just as Papyrus did, and the latter was impressed with Holmes' offer. "Wowie...I'm impressed you really want to fight me! But if I defeat you, I will place you in my shed until Undyne arrives!" Holmes then added, "And if we win, we can go further with our journey. Now, prepare yourself!"  
We were watching from the sidelines as Holmes, the expert singlestick, was taking on a skeleton with more than enough dueling prowess as well. Between parries, Holmes was impressed with the skeleton's fairing, "Your training seems to be excellent, young one, however you are not as effective as I. You do not fully intend to harm me, is it?" The skeleton stood back a few feet to regain their strength, "Perhaps I'm not giving out my best," Papyrus said as he attempted again to fight Holmes, but my friend was faring much better than his adversary, as the skeleton's attacks were faster than before, but less accurate. "Friend, your fighting is very good, and you seem to be more than strong to hold on your own. However, your movements are far too fast and less calculated after you exhaust yourself. You're not able to dose your energy when fighting, thus making yourself quite an easy target for anyone who'd try to fight." Holmes said to him as he ceased fighting, because his intent was none other than showing the skeleton his weaknesses. He then resumed his civilised apparel and lit up the Delta runed pipe, while Papyrus summoned back his rapier and sat on the cold snow, in tears. "Nyo hoo hoo...I can't capture someone like you. Undyne will be so, so disappointed with me..." while Frisk and I reassured him we can still be friends after this little duel. "No way! You want to be my friends after I wanted to capture you?!" the skeleton said as he rose in his height. "Wowie...I can't believe you still want to be my friends, after I was almost going to hurt and capture you... and I'm impressed with this great human's ability to hold off against the Great Papyrus," he said as he pointed towards my friend with a bony finger. "Now, you'll respect the part of our agreement. Let us leave Snowdin, to progress with our journey," Holmes said to Papyrus.  
_

 _\- Before you go..., I have something to tell you, Papyrus said._

 _\- What is it, friend? I asked, as Frisk stood next to me._

\- I have to give you directions towards the surface. Well, continue forward until you reach the end of the cavern. Then, when you reach the capital, you will reach the barrier.

\- What's that, _I asked Holmes, knowing he studied something at the library._

\- That is something keeping these poor unfortunate monsters in here, _Holmes said._

\- Yes, it is, Mr. Holmes. The barrier is a magical seal keeping us trapped underground. Anything can enter through it, but nothing can exit, sadly, _Papyrus said as he trailed off._

\- What about us, can we leave this place? _I asked Holmes, worried._

\- Watson, there might be a way for us to leave this place, but it's possible we have to cross through the king's castle to reach the barrier, _my friend mused as he puffed his pipe._

\- However did you know that, Mr. Holmes? _Papyrus said, his voice betraying shock._ Yes, indeed, the king's castle is the place where the barrier is, but the king is not that bad, he is actually a gentle giant. I'm sure you will say to him, "Excuse me, Mr. Dreemurr, could you let us leave?", he will lead you there himself.

\- That is interesting, to be sure, _Holmes said as he shook the skeleton's bony hand._ Thank you for your information, and may we see one another again.

 _"Holmes, care to explain? You seem to know a lot more than we do," I said, visibly upset. "Watson, Watson. I told you once, that each time I'm revealing my deductions to you, there wouldn't be anything extraordinary behind it. Since we heard Miss Toriel's story and now, Papyrus' story, the king has been at destroying the barrier for all these years. Given the fact it requires SOUL power to be destroyed, I have no hesitation in saying he might be collecting SOULS for his feeble attempt at destroying the seal that keeps them all here." I looked at Holmes in shock, and all I could utter was, "You mean...you mean he...he could've taken the children's SOULS?" but my friend puffed from his pipe and said "The six children are not the only unfortunates who fell down here, Watson. The real question we should ask is how far the kingdom has fallen, if their king is still hunting a dream that seems to have gone on for centuries?"  
_


	6. Wits Against Might (I)

**First off, I want to excuse myself for the rather long delay in updating the story!  
**

 **I really lacked the time and inspiration to work on the stories (and I'm leaving it at that.)**

 **Still, enjoy!**

* * *

 _"Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another."_

 _Holmes was leading the way through the path filled with waterfalls at each side. For him, the falls meant the destruction of his archnemesis, Professor Moriarty, and with him the entire network of criminals that threatened London for so long, but for me, the falls meant the apparent loss of Holmes. I was devastated by the shock of his death, only to realise that three years later, he was still alive and well. I couldn't forget that moment in my study, and I knew my friend couldn't either, as he was looking gravely towards me. "Watson. Are you still troubled by that day?" he asked as he caught my gaze fixated towards the flowing streams of water. "Yes, Holmes," I began saying, but then Frisk was curious to know what we were talking about. "Young one, it is a rather perilous tale, and we will save it for later, when this case will be solved. I promise I will show you the notes I made on it," I said towards the little child, who seemed a bit disappointed, but understood my good intentions nonetheless. We could see Sans standing behind another station, and we also met a young monster child, whose name was unknown, but he told us he is known as 'Monster Kid' and he asked Frisk a rather curious question:_

\- Have you snuck out to see her too? _Monster Kid asked._

\- Who're you talking about _, Frisk said, in puzzlement._

\- Why, I'm talking about Undyne! She's so cool! _Monster Kid was saying, excitement ringing in his voice._

\- She's the head of the Royal Guard, trained by the king himself and somebody else, and has a knack for hunting humans only to fulfill the king's orders, _my friend said while he was examining a curious blue flower, next to a shrimp-like monster, wearing a blue shirt._

\- No way, how did he do that? _Monster Kid asked, in complete shock over my friend's deduction._ Yes, sir, she is head of the Royal Guard. As for the rest, I know she trained with an old hero and that's all.

\- oh, heya there, humans, _Sans greeted us warmly, as if he waited for the right time._

\- Hello there, young Sans, _my friend replied._ I believe you have something important to say to us, is it not? _Holmes asked as he curiously examined the skeleton._

\- oh, i just wanted to ask if you wanna hang out at grillby's. since you're three, i can take you with me, _the skeleton winked as he held his hands towards us._

\- Very well, _I said, still unsure of our situation._

 _The moment we held hands together, I could feel like I was levitating, and a flash of light made me close my eyes. "here we are. okay, open your eyes now." Sans told us while Frisk and I were still puzzled over what just happened. But I believe Holmes already had some sort of plausible explanation, because he puffed lightly from his pipe as he gestured towards us to move in. "Why are we here, young one?" I asked Sans as he casually sat down on one of the stools lined up at the bar and motioned us to sit as well. After what seemed like minutes, he shifted his pinpricks and time seemed to have stopped around us, as if what we were about to discuss was too important to fall on dangerous ears.  
_

\- well...i gotta warn you about something. did any of you heard of a talking flower?

\- No, we haven't, _I said, surprised by the young skeleton's question._

 _-_ that flower. the echo flower...it repeats the same thing it heard, over and over..., but recently, my brother has been talking to these flowers...

\- And you think he might have heard something others did not, do you, young Sans? _my friend said as he puffed from the pipe._

 _-_ well, yeah and no. usually, these flowers have a way of showing up...offering flattery...or encouragement, or...even predictions, _Sans seemed to be incredibly tensed as he relinquished the last words of his phrase._

 _-_ Surely, this can't be something serious to worry about, _I tried to say, hoping to bring some hope in the skeleton's SOUL._

\- i just want you fellas to be careful, and especially the kid, _he said as he pointed towards Frisk, who seemed to watch the whole scene in awe._

\- We understand the situation, young Sans, _my friend began saying._ Do not fret, we will look after Frisk as we promised, _I could see Holmes staring at me and Frisk._ _  
_

\- okay, buddies. i count on ya, but just to be on the safe side...i'll keep an eyesocket on you three.

 _With the last phrase, we could actually feel the movement of time returning to normal - everyone around us seemed to keep talking about their problems, not casting a single glance in our direction. Sans then motioned us to go out and we parted ways, returning to the place with the Echo Flower. Holmes was indeed in deep thought, and Frisk lightly tugged on his pants, seemingly curious as to what distracted my friend so._

\- Yes, Frisk, what is it? _my friend turned to the curious child, while keeping a serious face._

\- What are you thinking about, Mr. Holmes? _Frisk asked, with a patient smile.  
_

\- Watson would tell you I tend not to reveal my deductions until later, young one, _Holmes said as he kept the pipe between his teeth._

\- Yes, Frisk, _I added._ Holmes likes to analyse the facts before saying anything.

 _Frisk kept a neutral face, almost taking in tow the fact that Holmes wasn't going to be willing to tell him anything, perhaps hindering his natural curiosity. My friend just smiled softly towards the child and motioned us both to go ahead. What we didn't know was that we were about to be chased by the most relentless soldier in the history of, well, soldiers...As we returned to the area of waterfalls, I still couldn't erase the dark memory I never wanted to relieve - although I know it was Holmes' ruse, but then I was devastated - I didn't want to see before me the two pairs of shoes going in one direction, and myself crying tears for the loss of my best friend and a brilliant detective. Holmes must've seen the grim look on my face as we were standing almost side by side, for he stopped me with a gentle gesture on my shoulder:_

\- Watson. I understand that the shock of my apparent death hasn't worn off yet, despite my feeble attempts to prove you I won't be leaving my dear friend so soon, _he said, understanding the graveness of the moment._

\- Holmes, you have no idea through what I've went since then. With you gone, there was no other prospect for me, other than looking after my patients. I would be lying if I'd say I didn't miss going out in an adventure with my good friend Holmes, _I said as I left out a breath I didn't know I was holding._

\- Do not worry, Watson. I have helped in catching Moriarty's gang as you remember, and it is benefiting the greater good. Unless a different kind of Moriarty would appear in the criminal world, and then you and I would have to run again through misery's strings.

\- I hope that won't be the case, Holmes, _I said, half-heartedly and somewhat assured by his calm demeanour._

 _As we wandered around some more, noticing various hieroglyphs on the walls - glpyhs that Holmes himself didn't fully understand - he said that the monsters' alphabet was similar to the runic one, and that he didn't, to his utter shame, bring out the runic syllabus he kept for an opportunity to read such information. He figured Frisk must've stopped to these runes as well, but Holmes really wanted to know what those glpyhs were talking about. He's the kind of man that never gives up during a research - he usually spends days on a subject and never truly exhausts it. But all this musing ceased when we could see Frisk in the distance, running further away from us. Holmes and I exchanged one brief look before running for the young child, only to discover that they were running from a knight in dark armour holding a blue spear. Initially, the knight was looking to cover themselves in the darkness, but Holmes noted the knight wasn't the type to just sit and wait for something to happen - he knew that kind of behaviour belonged to the would-be-skeleton of science. The knight, however, was a dame, as we heard her voice briefly yelling towards Frisk,"NGAHHHH! Come here, you little **brat**! I've been running for your arse for like ten full minutes! Don't you understand?! **YOU ARE STANDING IN THE WAY OF OUR HOPES AND DREAMS,** you up-to-no-good human!" Holmes was steadily holding his cane at the ready, brows furrowed, while I reached for the revolver in my hand, and Frisk was running like the Devil itself was after them. Poor child, why did they become the target of this warrior? As far as I can recollect, they are a gentle soul...but then I remembered how Holmes told me Sans was acquainted with Frisk from somewhere. Was it the same for this dame-warrior? All we knew was that we ran for like a good twenty minutes or so, until Frisk was cornered into a dead end and we were behind the dame-warrior, Holmes stopping her in the middle of an attack towards the child, a tone of fury bellowing from my friend:_

\- The child is under **our** protection, and should you attempt to harm them, I will **not** hesitate to hurt a lady, _Holmes said as his eyes were glinting._

\- Bold words, human! This child is the only one standing in the way of our freedom, and I don't intend to leave them alone...without a **FIGHT.**

\- You really wish to fight? Drop your spear, don't be a fool. I believe the King would be the one to suffer the most if you'd be dead for nothing, _Holmes said as he witnessed the dame-warrior's expression turn from the defiant smile into a straight face. Holmes had the talent of reaching out to people he was consulting, by merely deducing everything in his way._

 _-_ You...you know the King? Then you know he **instated** the policy of human-killing, right? So no human would be allowed to live, he needs the SOULS to break the barrier...

\- What is your name, m'Lady? _I asked corteously as I placed back the revolver in my pocket and I noticed Holmes didn't fully lower his cane. He wasn't willing to let anyone harm Frisk - after all, we promised Toriel that we'd keep the child safe._

 _-_ You probably know that, _she said as she turned towards Holmes, who was still in a protective stance in front of Frisk._

\- No, my dear lady. I only know your profession, and that is **head of the Royal Guard**. The Guard was set in place as a means of protecting monsters from harm, and you have achieved the position through hard training with the king and someone else, which most assuredly still lives.

\- No way...you know the Hammer of Justice as well? Who the hell are you, human?! DID YOU ASK EVERYONE AROUND ABOUT ME?!

\- No, Miss, _I gently intervened as I placed myself between Holmes and the lady._ My friend is just skilled in the art of deduction. He is able to say many things about someone just by casting a good look at them. We do not mean any harm, but should you attempt to carry on further with your act of killing, we **will** be forced to fight you.

\- Hmph. And I see the human has the Delta rune on one of his items. Where did you get that from? _she asked as she pointed towards the now extinguished pipe._

\- The symbol was donned by Queen Toriel herself, _Holmes said as he finally dropped the protective stance._ She has asked to protect the human in their journey, _my friend added as he was now supporting himself on the cane, Frisk close behind him._

 _As we thought the atmosphere was still a bit tense, Holmes could catch a glimpse of yellow scales and then we heard a loud thud from a pathway. The dame-warrior, Holmes and I prepared for the worst, only to discover that Monster Kid was looking for us. Each time the poor kid was landing on his face, he had some difficulty in picking himself up - but he was always up after every fall. He looked at us, pausing over our appearances, and then he squealed so excitedly as his eyes were fixated on the dame-warrior:_

 _-_ UNDYNE! No way, dude, I can't believe it! I am so close to Undyneeeee! But, what are you all doing here?

\- Just hanging out, _Frisk said._ You were right, Undyne is so cool, _the child continued as they beamed towards us._

\- Wha-? I don't understand ANY of this! I REFUSE TO BE FRIENDS WITH THE HUMAN WHO-

\- Greetings, Undyne! _Papyrus' voice rang from behind me._ I see you have met the humans! Aren't they the best in dueling? _he asked, obviously remembering the duel with Holmes._

 _-_ So, you did fight the humans, after all...I WANT TO FIGHT A HUMAN TOO! _Undyne yelled as she summoned a blue spear._ Who is up to the **challenge**?

 _In the shadows, a blue eye was watching closely the event. "heh, the humans are really keeping their promise. just...i hope i don't get to fight the justice bearer. he's willing to keeping his promise, like i do."_


End file.
